Pot farmer sent to prison

Convicted pot farmer James Gilbert was sentenced Tuesday to four years in Nevada State Prison, bringing an end to a 2006 charge to which the Gardnerville Ranchos man claimed he was innocent.

District Judge Dave Gamble gave Gilbert, 44, credit for 121 days in custody and said he would be eligible for parole in 14 months.

Gilbert pleaded no contest to possession of a controlled substance for sale, maintaining he was allowed to grow marijuana for medical purposes.

He was arrested Oct., 5, 2006, after drug officers smelled the 11 plants growing in the backyard of a Gardnerville Ranchos home.

"The fact that the Legislature provided legal means for certain people to grow a certain amount of marijuana makes my job complicated," Gamble said.

"When the Legislature makes a concession based on the needs of people, the concession needs to be narrowly construed. You need to be held to the exact terms of that concession rather than broadening it out."

Gilbert asked the judge for probation, saying he wanted to be a father to his 12-year-old daughter who lives in Southern California with her grandparents and his 21-year-old daughter who lives locally.

He said he was leaving Nevada as soon as his legal troubles are cleared up.

"A lot of that is past. I would like to put it behind me. I want to make a new start, got to school and leave the state. I don't see why you can't give me a chance. I'm going to be good," Gilbert said.

Gilbert said it wasn't his fault the plants thrived to what one official called "a dense forest."

"I didn't mean to grow them that big. It was the hottest year on record. It was up to Mother Nature," he said.

Prosecutor Tom Gregory pointed out that Gilbert and Teresa Ortega, who shared the residence, obtained their medical marijuana cards less than two months before the arrest.

"Those plants went so far beyond the state marijuana rules. The state always believed this was a sales case," Gregory said.

Gamble also recommended that Gilbert never be granted a medical marijuana card in any jurisdiction.

"I would like to put any reviewing entity on record for his ability of skirting the law. It's my opinion that Mr. Gilbert not ever be granted by anyone the privilege to grow marijuana anywhere," Gamble said.

In exchange for Gilbert's no-contest plea, two counts of burglary were dismissed in the theft of cigarettes from a convenience store.

Gilbert's prior record includes a 1997 arrest in Barstow, Calif., after officers found 1,184 marijuana plants.

He served three years in federal prison.

Since his 2006 case, Gilbert had been implicated in a second marijuana grow, but those charges were dismissed by Justice of the Peace Jim EnEarl.